Imitators (Reflections on Two Books about D.I. Mendeleev)

This is a detailed critical analysis of two books, published in 2024 and 2025 and devoted
to D.I. Mendeleev’s life and work: one by M.S. Ulyanenkova, intended for young readers
(7+), and another by T.I. Solodova, which is addressed to a wider audience and, at least in
formal terms, is closer to a scientific monograph. The article discusses in detail the errors
and inaccuracies in both books, whose abundance outweigh the merits of both authors’
ideas and texts. Both authors are not professional historians of science, either by education nor in their main occupation and the subjects of their other publications. The main source of failure of both books under review, in our opinion, is the authors lacking an understanding of the specifics of research and texts on the history of science (which is important for writing books of any level, including 7+) and lacking the skills of doing research in this field, particularly as writing Mendeleev’s biography, including in a popular form, is a very difficult task even for more appropriately trained and insightful researchers.